NOTICE THE DIFFERENCE

[Demonland 72,192]

NOTICE THE DIFFERENCE? by the Oracle

Seven days after the debacle by Corio Bay, six days after the sacking of Dean Bailey as coach, five days after the appointment of his temporary replacement Todd Vine, four days after the recriminations began in earnest, three days after Garry Lyon was dragged into the picture amid more news of the ill-health of the club's president, two days after a dramatic selection meeting saw the loss through injury of an All Australian ruckman, the omission of the club's most dynamic but erratic player, its leading goal kicker and two others and one day after a final training session attracted the football world's media voyeurs and their paparazzi who had spent the week determined to make the most of stories of rifts within the club and revive old news about the tanking issue, the Demons returned to the field and lost to the Blues by 76 points (ironically, the team that tanked hard and often not so long ago while an AFL, determined to see their return to the ranks of successful clubs, turned a blind eye).

With so much bubbling in the background to the game, did anybody notice a difference in Melbourne's performance under caretaker coach Viney?

There are many who would give an emphatic "no" for an answer to that question. To lose by almost 13 goals on the MCG with the memory of the "bruise-free" allegations of the earlier clash between the sides, to capitulate so badly in the second term and indeed to lose by a margin even greater than that of the round 10 "bruise-free result", was as shameful as the debacle of last week.

But there was some silver lining there for sure. If I had to put it to you before the game that Melbourne would finish with a close inside 50 count and only six less scoring shots you would surely have taken it after last week's 186?

There's no doubt that Carlton's superior skills against a less experienced, mentally hurt Melbourne bereft of true leadership might explain it's better accuracy in front of goal (last week it kicked 2.8 with its first 10 shots at goal, this week it was 8.1 just two minutes into the second term) but it was also just one of those days when, in addition to that, everything went right for the Blues and everything wrong for the Demons.

Let's look at the first quarter when, after Mitch Robinson's opening goal, Melbourne had all of the momentum and dominated the moves forward (15 -10 inside 50's for the term) but failed to make an impact. Easy set shots were missed by Jack Watts (after receiving a brilliant pass from James Strauss), Lynden Dunn and Brad Green, a Nathan Jones helicopter went up in the air and failed to find a teammate let alone score and a Stef Martin kick sailed out of bounds on the full.

What was evident at this stage of proceedings was that the Demons were more direct in their play and were less inclined to revert to overusing handball which had been a feature of their game during the Bailey regime. We were also treated with some signs of brilliance, especially when Watts sold candy to Brock McLean (who copped abuse all day from my Carlton supporting neighbour) and rammed home an inspirational goal but its impact was immediately nullified by the horrid injury to Strauss which gave the Blues the opportunity to regroup and retain their composure.

With a little over two minutes left the scoreboard read:

Melbourne 3.6.24 Carlton 3.1.19.

Then, Max Gawn was awarded a free kick in the middle of the ground and instead of looking upfield to his forwards, he handballed laterally to Nathan Jones who had a Carlton opponent on his hammer. A few movements of the ball later, Carlton was a point in front after an Andrew Walker goal. The next play resulted in Luke Tapscott attempting a long shot for goal from outside 50 which resulted in a rushed behind. Chris Yarran's long kick off sailed over Joel Macdonald's head and found Jeff Garlett who carried the ball 100m with just two bounces (you do the math), the last 35 of which he fumbled the ball in the air, regained his balance going the distance without penalty and passing forward eventually finding Ellard for his second goal of the game. There were 54 seconds on the clock, just enough for another goal on the siren to Thornton. The quarter had lasted 35 minutes and 49 seconds and the score was:

Melbourne 3.7.25 Carlton 6.1.37.

I won't bore you with hard luck stories but a more mature team could easily have headed Carlton by four goals instead of trailing by two but football is full of coulda, woulda and shoulda stories and the Blues, thanks to Judd's brilliance, put Melbourne away in the second term anyway. They kicked 8.1.49 to 0.3.3 for the term and from there, it's needless to say, that they went on to win comfortably by 21.8.134 to 7.16.58. Judd finished with 31 disposals - 18 of them contested and if he didn't pick up the three Brownlow votes there will be an investigation. Had he not played, the game could have gone either way in my view.

As it was, Melbourne fought it out in the second half despite being outclassed and despite a few free kicks going Carlton's way for goals. In the end, it was the last two minutes of the first quarter and the entire second that accounted for much of the difference in the two teams' scores.

The faint hope that Melbourne could possibly make the finals if it somehow fell in against West Coast and then beat Richmond, Gold Coast and Port Adelaide is probably gone as a result of Essendon's win yesterday but who really relishes the prospect of going into a finals game at Patterson's Curse Oval against the Eagles in September?

Only the Demons' young uns like Watts, Trengove, McKenzie, Howe, Gysberts, Tapscott (until injured) Gawn and Scully (although I suspect the latter might have other things on his mind). Players like Frawley, Garland, Martin and one or two others.

They were well beaten out of the middle thanks to Warnock winning the tap outs and, well … Judd but the Blues were always going to be the winners with a clean sheet on the injury front. They were able to make 151 interchanges on the day to 117 – a significant difference and, in light of all of their advantages on the day; the final inside 50 count of 52 to 47 was incredibly close. The problem being that Carlton converted 40% of their inside 50's to Melbourne's 14%. The latter stat has generally been a highlight for the Demons this year but their forward disposal let them down this time, particularly from set shots where they were deplorable while the Blues simply couldn't miss from whatever angle or distance.

The other difference between Melbourne of last week and this week is that the disposal count was nowhere near as skewed (370-332) indicating the Demons were having more of a dip and in that regard, the team's youngsters were truly impressive.

Jack Watts and Jack Trengove were terrific competitors and are the club's future. Words can't express how they have come on for the club this year.

But as for the team leaders, they are struggling and would have been ashamed last night that the only true leadership shown at this club was from its ailing President who insisted on going to the game and who spoke at the end of how proud he was of his players.

Melbourne 3.7.25 3.10.28 6.12.48 7.16.58

Carlton 6.1.37 14.2.86 18.7.115 21.8 134

Goals

Melbourne Dunn Watts 2 Green Davey Green Howe

Carlton Ellard 3 Garlett Gibbs Judd Scotland Walker 2 Betts Henderson Joseph Kreutzer McLean Robinson Thornton Warnock

Best

Melbourne Watts Trengove Garland Frawley Macdonald Dunn

Carlton Judd Gibbs Murphy Warnock Scotland Ellard

Injuries

Melbourne Strauss (broken leg) Tapscott (neck)

Carlton Nil

Changes

Melbourne Nil

Carlton Dennis Armfield (ankle) replaced in Carlton's selected side by Ryan Houlihan

Reports

Melbourne Nil

Carlton Nil

Umpires Donlon Bozo Jeffery

Crowd 42,342 at the MCG

[ucanchoose 1,816]

The only difference was that for the first time ever I left at half time, and got home before the end of the game.

[Samsara 65]

Was a great response from last week! We have well and truly gone backwards from last year.

[Guest Guy Rigoni]

Great to see our leaders make a stand today

[Jaded No More 68,915]

I noticed that I have lost all patience and passion for this team.

[Clintosaurus 7,846]

At least most of the players put in an effort this week. Joel Mac and Watts were the pick.

Best wishes to Strauss and Tappy.

Is Moloney carrying an injury? I noticed he had a massive bandage around his torso.

[Range Rover 1,935]

It's a horror show unfolding before our eyes at the moment.

No leaders and half a side that should never have had their name called out at a national draft.

[Old Man Rivers 326]

I noticed that I have lost all patience and passion for this team.

I feel like I have slid back in a time warp to the mid 1970's

This we have no hope feeling hasn't felt this bad for a long long time.

Hard to believe that the last 4 years have been such a waste of time.

No denying bottoming out for Draft picks was the wrong way to go for our club.

We had simply been down for too long & should never of entertained this thought.

It came with no guarantee's & we are seeing living proof of this right Now.

What I would give to witness the Late 80's early 90's passion once more.

Garry Lyon - Over to you to do what has to be done to turn this club around before 2012.

[AgRogers 7]

Still watching the game on tv, no doubt more pain to come from the comments here. We seem to be getting a reasonable share of the contested ball from the stoppages this week at least which is a vast improvement on last week. Biggest areas of concern appear to be a combination of horrific decision making and awful disposal.

The number of times a player running in a little space hanballs to a player under greater pressure is ridiculous. If we can't execute basic ball movement, then surely you would at lest punt the ball 50m downfield to reduce the damage on the turnover.

There was an obscene number of turnovers today where we kicked to a Carlton player in space, showing how much we are missing targets by. Completely unacceptable at this level, and must be demoralizing for the players winner the hard ball to begin with.

On a separate note goal kicking was pathetic particularly in the first half, and I would like to think if we had been a little more accurate then maybe some confidence drawn from competing with a top four team may have seen us a little more composed in the areas above.

We have a long long way to go, and while it was good to see some more heart this week, the team needs to be collectively using their head a truckload more before we will see any real improvement!!

[Diablo Deemon 220]

Can no longer see the light at the end of the tunnel

Absolutely cooked.

[Damo 3,356]

Watching the game live it looked like under 18's vs the blues.

We probably would have won games like todays if we had have traded for 27 yr old KPP. I am swayed towards wishing we had have pulled that trigger, if only to stop deep disappointment from the player group.

With Sylvia and jamar out, it exacerbates our inexperience.

We have made a hard choice and we want to look to the day we watch Blues Saints and Tigers supporters feel how we do.

it is tough and we hate it. And we will kill those [censored] in a couple of years.

[AgRogers 7]

About 10 mins to go in the fourth and just saw Davey duck while standing on the mark as the Carlton player kicked over his head. Unbelievably soft!! Commentators didn't pick it up but surely must come up in the team review of the match!!

[BAMF 4,353]

Have to be honest. We are years away from being even competitive against the top teams.

Man this is so frustrating. Really thought the boys might take some ticker today. Can we get a tackle to stick for once??!?!

This is so hard after so many years of pain. At least when we were rebuilding you could always justify it.

Lets have a look at the players drafted since the rebuild started

07

Morton - Not up to it

Grimes - Injured too often

Maric - No good

Cheney - Gone

McNamara - Good as gone

Martin - Great value

Zomer - Gone

Wonna - Has been missing for years

Spencer - Needs time

Valentine - Gone

08

Watts - Great

Blease - Has shown nothing because of injury

Strauss - Needed to stay injury free. Will need a minor miracle to make it back after today.

Bennell - Not up to it

Jetta - Not good enough

Bail - Has been great this year until injured

Jurrah - Great but in a rut at the moment

McKenzie - A shining light

Healey - Gone

Hughes - Gone. Again.

09

Scully - We will know at the end of this year.

Trengove - Great

Gysberts - Good but needs time

Tapscott - Promising

Gawn - Needs time

Fitzpatrick - Hopeful

MacDonald - Borderline 22

10

Cook - Too early to tell

Howe - Good so far

Davis - Too early to tell

McDonald - Too early to tell

Nicholson - Has shown good signs

Evans - Might be upgraded in a few seasons

Lawrence - Too early to tell

Johnston - Too early to tell

Campbell - Un-needed

Edited August 6, 2011 by UTAH

[Range Rover 1,935]

Are my eyes deceiving me or do we have two players who struggle with the actual skill of kicking a football ... Jones and Petterd.

Isn't this the first box a recruiter should be ticking? Streuth!

[hellraiser 0]

sack viney !!!!!!!!!

[Nasher 33,616]

sack viney !!!!!!!!!

Heh, that crossed my mind too.

To be honest, after last week this is really water off a duck's back for me.

[pitmaster 3,551]

[You're overlooking the fact we kicked 4.8 from set shots and they kicked goals out of their arse. 14 goals from 15 shots? I mean really, they'll never do that again.

Had Watts, Green and Dunn kicked truly we'd have won the first term. Lack of confidence cost us enormously. Others were Howe, Trengove, Bate and Green missing eminently gettable set shots. Could also have won the third term but for poor kicking.

The endeavour was there today. Tackles weren't strong enough but that's partly maturity.

Watts was good, Garland also. Davey barely sighted but started to use the ball as we know he can in the second half.

Injuries hurt us and I know Carlton backed off but it was not the horror show some are making out here. We showed enough poise to avoid a total blowout, but yes, our structure is not up to it in the attacking half. We had almost as many inside 50s but not the targets they had.

Can't critisise the effort, however.

[beelzebub 23,376]

Are my eyes deceiving me or do we have two players who struggle with the actual skill of kicking a football ... Jones and Petterd.

Isn't this the first box a recruiter should be ticking? Streuth!

Yes they do...

theres far more than two

[lucifer 119]

The trouble I'm having at the moment is that I just don't know when this is going to end. Don't get me wrong, I am not one of this supporters who is only interested when we are winning. I have been going every week since I can remember and sitting through then good times and bad. BUT...I am struggling to see the light. Thought after we bottomed out we were on the right track. It seems the club has great difficulty in developing it's young players.

There are a few examples. Firstly Cale Morton. Drafted pick four. Playing at Casey. Obviously his development has stagnated. Bate is still young and has plataued. I challenge any Melbourne fan to say that 3 or 4 years ago they thought he wasn't going to be in or best 22. Davey has gone backwards. I guess as well my problem is that middle tier player taking the nex step. Look at Dunn, Petterd, Sylvia, Moloney. I am concerned for the development of Scully, Trengove, Blease, Gysberts & Cook.

The only bright spots today were Watts and Frawley who does his job every week.

I am worried about the recruiting and the avenue we have gone down. It concerns me that we can't attract players in trade week and after the problems tha have come to light in the past week, who would want to be traded to Melbourne.

I'm sorr this has turned into a rant about how badly off I think the club is, I love the club with all m heart and just want them to do well. I just need to see some light at the end of the tunnel. I want to be able to go to the football and expec to win. I can't remember the last time I felt that.

To the other demo landers, I am sure I will cop some stick for being negative. Sorry, but this is an emotional post game rant.

[beelzebub 23,376]

Notice any differences?

this is s trick question hey D-L ?? lol

umm..trip home would have been quicker !!

umm..we wiped a whole 100 pts off our losing margin.... way to go Dees ! woohooo !!

am I close ???

[Dee Fan 3,247]

Are my eyes deceiving me or do we have two players who struggle with the actual skill of kicking a football ... Jones and Petterd.

Isn't this the first box a recruiter should be ticking? Streuth!

We also have plenty who are skilled but unfortunately can't get a kick.

[Demon16 69]

Notice any differences?

i noticed i am becoming less concerned about the decision of number 31.

[RalphiusMaximus 6,053]

Honestly, it was a pretty good effort for three quarters. If they hadn't blown us away in the second we'd all be reasonably happy with a hard game in which we conceded too many junk time goals to loose by 25 or so. If we'd actually kicked straight in the first quarter we'd have taken a pretty solid lead in and perhaps things would have been different. I'm not thrilled at the margin, but it was 100% better than last week.

[demonique 314]

For years now and I do mean YEARS, we have not developed any muscle!!

Look at the shoulders of our lot compared to ANY other team, we are WEEDS in comparison. And this was so during Danihers day.

We should only be a season behind the Blues in development ,because they tanked the 2 years before our two years. Oh well perhaps thats 2 years worth of development, it looks like we will be hopeless for years to come I'm afraid!

In had the feeling today that the players are NOT actually trying. Trengoves miss has me puzzled!!

[Akum 2,660]

The past few weeks has shown everybody who stands up & who doesn't when the chips are down.

As has been alluded to by many posters in various ways, those who have stood up when the chips are down are the true leaders of the club at the moment. The pseudoleaders have collectively & individually let the team down again.

And I can't for the life of me understand why the recruiters are getting canned. Some of the players BP has brought to the club are the ones who are standing up.